


Dish Duty

by prettyfaroutman



Series: Lovely Little Ficlets 31 Day Challenge [3]
Category: Lovely Little Losers, Nothing Much to Do
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 04:31:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3105962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyfaroutman/pseuds/prettyfaroutman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Pre-series (around year 9); I did some cursory googling on the Scout program in NZ, but ultimately I'm an ignorant American so I apologize for any inconsistencies</p>
    </blockquote>





	Dish Duty

**Author's Note:**

> Pre-series (around year 9); I did some cursory googling on the Scout program in NZ, but ultimately I'm an ignorant American so I apologize for any inconsistencies

Balthazar scratched at the cluster of bug bites on his neck, tepid soapy water dripping from his hand onto his shoulder. He was trying to make the best of this trip, but every year in Scouts made it more clear to him that he simply wasn’t an outdoorsy sort of person. He was sore and tired from sleeping on the ground, itchy from all the bug bites, smelly from wearing the same shirt three days in a row, and hunkered over a huge metal basin stuck on dish duty. To top it off, the sugary French toast they’d grilled up for breakfast had cooked just long enough that it had candied onto the griddle; his raggedy sponge and soggy fingernails were no match for the blackened crust left on the pan.

“Chop chop!” his patrol leader called. “If we’re going to finish this hike by dusk, we have to get going!”

“Coming, Tama! Almost done!” he responded as enthusiastically as he could.

“Right. Ben, grab the packs and make sure all the lunch supplies made it in there. Rangi, fill the canteens. Pedro, why don’t you go help finish the dishes? Let’s get moving.”

Balthazar felt a twinge of self consciousness that he was holding up the rest of the boys, that Tama thought he couldn’t finish by himself. But if anyone had to help him with the dishes, he was glad it was Pedro.

“Hey, bro,” Pedro said on cue. “Oh dude, you’re almost done here. This is no big deal.” He plopped crosslegged on the ground next to the small stool on which Balthazar sat.

“Kinda. It’s just…the toast stuck, and…” he held up the dripping pan and pointed to the crusty residue.

“Oh yeah…hmm, let me have a go.”

Balthazar handed him the pan and the pathetic sponge and vacated the stool, allowing Pedro to sit. He picked up the cleanest nearby dish towel and began drying the clean dishes, studiously ignoring the contours of Pedro’s recently shorn head.

“Wow, yeah, I see why this was taking you so long. Sucks that you got stuck with dishes today, mate.” He folded over the basin, angling his arm in various ways to get better leverage.

“I mean, it’s okay, I guess.”

“But hey, at least when we finish this we’ll get to go on a hike. That should be fun, right?”

“Um, sure. Yeah.”

Pedro laughed as he scrubbed. “You don’t sound too excited about it, actually.”

Balthazar blushed. He wanted to be optimistic about the hike, especially because Pedro was always so optimistic about everything. It was one of the qualities Balthazar most admired in him; he couldn’t stand people who were unnecessarily negative, so he always strove to be positive like Pedro no matter how much he might want to whinge. Unfortunately, this camping trip was trying his patience.

“I mean, I’m sure it’ll be gorgeous and all, just…”

“Are you feeling homesick?”

From any of the other boys, this question would have been a taunt, but Pedro spoke with real concern in his voice. It made Balthazar almost more reluctant to answer.

“Maybe, I guess? Sort of…”

“Sort of maybe?”

“I guess, like, homesick for my bed?”

Pedro laughed. “Gotcha. Yeah, sleeping on the ground is rough.”

“And the bugs…” Now that he’d begun to complain, he felt more spilling out.

“Yeah, you really got nailed the other night. You must just be tastier than the rest of us. But anyway, I’m glad you’re here. Where would we be without you and your ukulele? I’d be way more homesick right now without you.”

Balthazar felt his cheeks burning. He knew Pedro was just trying to make him feel better - making people feel better was one of the things Pedro did best - but he couldn’t help but wonder whether he really meant it. So many thoughts whizzed through his mind at the notion that he might make Pedro feel even the tiniest bit happier that he couldn’t nail them down.

The only reply he could manage was, “Same.”

“Pedro? Balthazar?” Tama came striding up. “Are we making progress over here? We’re all waiting on you two.”

“Yeah, Balthy was basically done when I came over, it’s just this one pan that’s all crusted over. Can we leave it to soak while we go out on the hike?”

“That should be fine. Go grab your packs and meet us at the trail head.”

Balthazar rolled his eyes at himself for not thinking to ask this, but silently thanked Pedro for taking charge. He carefully folded the dish towel over the side of the basin and started back to his tent to pick up his pack.

“Hey Balthy? Can you bring your ukulele on the hike? I’ll carry it for you, if you want.”

Balthazar turned to face Pedro’s smile and nodded. Maybe the hike wouldn’t be so bad.


End file.
